Client Discovery & Delivery Leadership

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.; Northern, New York (KY, NY); Hybrid; USD 170,000 - 185,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) plan

Stock purchase program

Unlimited PPTO

Job summary

Jacobs is seeking a Discovery & Implementation Lead for its Digital Program Solutions team. You will own rapid discovery cycles with clients, translate findings into actionable requirements, and lead a team of Forward Deployed Engineers to protect schedules and reduce costs. This hybrid role spans North America with occasional travel.

The position emphasizes backlog ownership, measurable success, and close client collaboration, ensuring outcomes meet client needs and project goals.

Qualifications

• Experience in discovery, business analysis, requirements gathering, product ownership, or a similar client-facing role.

Responsibilities

• Run rapid discovery with interviews and small-group workshops to identify risks.
• Identify the real challenges behind stated requests (schedule, cost, uncertainty).
• Translate findings into clear, build-ready requirements for backlog items.
• Own and prioritize the backlog; sequence work to maximize schedule, cost, and certainty.

Skills

Discovery

Business analysis

Requirements gathering

Product ownership

Client-facing

Azure DevOps

Jira

Tools

Azure DevOps

Jira

Job description

At Jacobs, we're challenging today to reinvent tomorrow by solving the world's most critical problems for thriving cities, resilient environments, mission-critical outcomes, operational advancement, scientific discovery and cutting-edge manufacturing, turning abstract ideas into realities that transform the world for good.

Your impact

At Jacobs, we're challenging today to reinvent tomorrow - turning ideas into solutions that transform the world for good. Our Digital Program Solutions (DPS) team pairs Forward Deployed Engineers (FDEs) with clients to build fast, high-impact digital and AI solutions. Before any of that gets built, someone must quickly figure out what's actually needed — and once it's being built, someone must make sure it lands.

We're looking for a Discovery & Implementation Lead to own both ends of that process. Every client and stakeholder challenge you take on should trace back to one or more of three equally important outcomes: delivering earlier - or protecting the schedule as-is - at lower cost, and with greater certainty and confidence. You'll start with fast, focused discovery — days and weeks, not months — meeting directly with users and small working groups (2–4 people) to find what's actually putting schedule, cost, or confidence at risk. From there, you'll own the backlog, lead the FDEs on your project, and stay engaged until the work is buttoned up and its impact is proven. This is not a development role — you won't write production code — but you're accountable for the FDE team delivering the right thing, well, with results you can show.

Location : Hybrid 2 days per week at any US based Jacobs office with occasional travel for client discovery and delivery activities, primarily in North America.

• Run Rapid Discovery - Lead interviews and small-group workshops (2–4 users), completing a discovery cycle in days or weeks, focused on finding what's putting schedule, cost, or delivery confidence at risk.
• Identify Real Challenges - Dig past the stated request to the actual driver - a schedule risk, a cost overrun, or a source of uncertainty the team hasn't named yet.
• Translate Findings into Requirements - Convert what you learn into clear requirements aimed at protecting or improving schedule, cost, and certainty alike.
• Own & Prioritize the Backlog - Maintain the project backlog and sequence work by what most protects or improves schedule, cost, or certainty - not just what's requested loudest.
• Lead the FDEs on Your Project - Set direction for your project's FDEs and own accountability for what gets delivered.
• Define & Track Success Metrics - Establish upfront how you'll measure impact - schedule days pulled in or protected, cost saved, or confidence/certainty gained - and report against it.
• Validate Against the Client's Needs - Continuously check work against discovery findings and client expectations, catching gaps early.
• Button It Up - Own final quality - nothing half-finished, undocumented, or unclear before the team calls it done.
• Be the Client's Point of Contact - Serve as the primary line between client and FDE team, managing expectations and keeping the client confident in where things stand.

Here's what you'll need

• Experience in discovery, business analysis, requirements gathering, product ownership, or a similar client-facing role - ideally with exposure to program/project schedule or cost management.
• Experience owning and prioritizing a backlog, and leading or directing a technical team's work without formal authority.
• Strong facilitation skills - able to extract clarity and the real driver behind a request, not just notes.
• Ability to define measurable success criteria and write requirements a technical team can build from directly.
• Working fluency with Azure DevOps or Jira.
• Comfort working at pace, with incomplete information, on compressed timelines.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Nice to have:

• Professional services or consulting experience.
• Experience with rapid prototyping or mockup tools (e.g., Figma).
• Familiarity with project schedule/cost tools or methods (e.g., critical path analysis, EVM).

Our health and welfare benefits are designed to invest in you, and in the things you care about. Your health. Your well-being. Your security. Your future.

• Employees have access to medical, dental, vision, and basic life insurance, a 401(k) plan, and the ability to purchase company stock at a discount.
• Eligible employees may also enroll in a deferred compensation plan or the Executive Deferral Plan.
• Jacobs has an unlimited U.S. Personalized Paid Time Off (PPTO) policy for full-time salaried/exempt employees, seven paid holidays, and caregiver leave.
• And certain roles may be eligible for additional rewards, including merit increases, performance discretionary bonus, and stock.

The base salary range for this position is $170,000.00 to $185,000.00. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status.

We value collaboration and believe that in-person interactions are crucial for both our culture and client delivery. We empower employees with our hybrid working policy, allowing them to split their work week between Jacobs offices/projects and remote locations enabling them to deliver their best work.

Your application experience is important to us, and we’re keen to adapt to make every interaction even better. If you require further support or reasonable adjustments with regards to the recruitment process (for example, you require the application form in a different format), please contact the team via Careers Support .